Transcript A quick Guide to Regional Policy

A quick Guide
to Regional
Policy
Its origins and purpose
What is regional policy?
• Article 158 of the Treaty states that:
"in order to strengthen its economic and
social cohesion, the Community shall aim at
reducing disparities between the levels of
development of the various regions and the
backwardness of the least favoured regions
or islands, including rural areas"
also called:
– cohesion policy
– structural policy
– refers to the Structural Funds
– or "EU money"!
Origins
Treaty of Rome set up:
• CAP
• European Social Fund
• No specific provision for regional
policy or regional fund
Why?
• Common market thought to be
enough
• Strong economic growth in 1950s
and 1960s
Why change?
• Recession of 1970s highlighted
development gaps
• Regional disparities increased
with accession of:
–1973: UK, Ireland and
Denmark
–1981: Greece
–1986: Spain and Portugal
Why is regional policy
important?
Socio-economic cohesion considered to be a
priority for the European Union
Second most heavily funded sector in the Union
after the Common Agricultural Policy.
From less than 5% of 1975 budget to 35% of 1999
budget Now moving towards 40%, especially if you
add research
€ 233 billion. (approximately £ 160 billion)
Visible sign of the EU
Promotes convergence (helping poorer regions
develop)
Economic Rationale
• Effects of single market on
regional disparities
• Migration to rich areas not poor
• Less mobility in Europe
• Social costs
Political rationale
• need to legitimise the new
economic and political order
• fiscal and monetary policy seen
as not being enough
• "sweetener" for Member State
accession
Greater differences between regions and Member
States:
regional disparity levels are higher than national disparities but
are also falling
Over ¼ of EU-27 population lives in regions below 75% of EU
average GDP
13 Member States of EU-27 have GDP below 90% of average –
21% of population
EU spending 2007 - 2013
Regional and Cohesion
Policy
• Three new objectives
• Convergence (like old Objective 1:
greater scope) 81.9%
• Competitiveness (old Objective
2&3, tie to Lisbon) 15.7%
• Territorial co-operation (former
Interreg programme and RFEC
networks to test ideas) 2.4%
EU Structural Funds
• The 2007-2013 Structural and Cohesion
Funds
• The European Council of December 2005
agreed a total Structural Funds budget of
€308 billion for 2007-13.
• As a result of the agreement, the UK will
continue to receive substantial Structural
Funds receipts, amounting to €9.4 billion
(2004 prices), for 2007-13.
The Neighbourhood Policy
Partners:
of the EU
-
-
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova
Mediterranean partners: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, as well as the
Palestinian Authority
inclusion of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
National Action Plans (3-5 years):
- Alignement with EU standards
- Co-operation on EU polices
- Dialogue on counter-terrorism
- Participation in EU Programmes
- Co-operation on JHA
Regional Policy – 2007-2013
Objective 'Regional
Competitiveness and
Employment
Red – Convergence Criteria
Blue = Competitive – bring
in regions already over
75%
Pink = Statistically affected
regions
Where are the new
industries?
Priorities of Regional and
Cohesion Policies – 2007-2013
Outermost regions
Breakdown of cohesion spending 2007-2013 by category
(billion EUR)
Energy
Telecom infrastructure
Culture
Tourism
Urban / rural generation
Capacity building*
Social infrastructure
Support to firms
R&D, innovation and
information society
Sustainable development
Investing in people
Transport
0,0
10,0
20,0
* including technical assistance (data as of end of April 2007)
30,0
40,0
50,0
60,0
70,0
80,0
R and D – 2000-2006-20072013
Regional Disparities in
EU27
GDP per head in % in PPP (2002)
<50
50 - 75
75 - 90
90 - 100
100 - 125
 125
Index, EUR-27 = 100
EU Regional Policy
2000-06
40% to 49,9%
of EU population
(155→224 Mio.) in
eligible areas (Obj. 1 &
2)
233 bn. Euro
(one third of the EU
budget)
2007-2013 - New Budget Structure: Regional Policy
gains
2006 vs. 2013 in %
50
47.4
45
2006
2013
40.4
40
35.7
32.1
35
30
25
20
15
10
9.9
6.6
6.5
5
0.9
6.4
5.6
6.1
1.5
0
1A Competitiveness
1B Cohesion
2 Natural resources
3 Justice
4 Global role
5 Administration
ConvergenceObjective:
Regions below 75% of
EU25 GDP
Average 2000-2002
86 Regions
124 million inhabitants
27.3%of EU population
Allocation: EUR 177.8 bn
Conclusions
• Does it work?
– across Member States yes
– within Member States less
• What will enlargement do (Poland
40 million, Spain 40 million)
– from 15 to 25 Member States
– new Member States are much poorer
– pressure on budget
• Causes friction between memberstates
– Poor vs. rich
– South vs. North
– East vs. West